PLACEBO: THE BELIEF EFFECT

Published in hardback in the UK by HarperCollins on 20 January 2003. ISBN: 0007126123 (Hardback)

Paperback edition published in the UK by HarperCollins in January 2004, with a new subtitle: PLACEBO: MIND OVER MATTER IN MODERN MEDICINE. ISBN: 0007126131.

US edition published in paperback by Oxford University Press in January 2004 as PLACEBO: MIND OVER MATTER IN MODERN MEDICINE. ISBN: 0195220544.

Order this book online at Amazon.co.uk

NEWS:

16 April 2009: I only recently noticed that Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst make some very generous remarks about Placebo: The Belief Effect in their recent book Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial (Bantam Press, 2008). On pages 284-5 they refer to my proposal, which I put forward in chapter 7 of Placebo, that governments should require alternative remedies to carry warning labels that acurrately relect the exisitng scientific evidence. Singh and Ernst go on to say that they "believe that Evans's idea has some merit, because such open, honest and accurate summaries would certainly help patiients" (p.285). They also provide a few examples of what such warning labels might look like, and dub these "Evans-style summaries." I'm flattered by such recognition from two people whose work I have long admired.

PRAISE FOR PLACEBO:

Placebo: The Belief Effect is 'highly commended' by the British Medical Association in the Popular Medicine category of the 2003 BMA Medical Book Prize competition.

Placebo: The Belief Effect was chosen as book of the month by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in April 2003. Click here for the review by Annabelle Mark.

The book is also featured on the Edge Books Page .

Book description:

Can we really cure ourselves of disease by the power of thought alone? Faith healers and alternative therapists are convinced that we can, but what does science say?

Contrary to public perception, orthodox medical opinion is remarkably confident about the healing powers of the mind. For the past fifty years, doctors have been taught that placebos such as sugar pills and water injections can relieve virtually any kind of medical condition. Yet placebos only work if you believe they work, so the medical confidence in the power of the placebo effect has provided scientific legitimacy to popular claims about the healing power of the mind.

In this intriguing exploration, Dylan Evans exposes the flaws in the scientific research into the placebo effect and reveals the limits of what can and cannot be cured by thought alone. Drawing on new ideas in immunology and evolutionary biology, Evans proposes a new theory about how placebos work, and asks some searching questions about our concepts of health and disease

For list of contents, click here .

For a paper I wrote summarising the main hypothesis of the book for Medical Hypotheses, click here.

For a short piece I wrote about placebos and evolution for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, based on some ideas in my book, click here .

For a presentation based on some ideas in the book, click here .

What other people have said about this book:

'The placebo effect is fundamental to medical treatment, and this book brilliantly explores the scientific evidence in an accessible and gripping manner.' - Lewis Wolpert - see also an article by Lewis Wolpert in The Independent on 4 June 2003 - The immune system can have profound effects on thinking and emotion .

'The placebo effect, of such huge importance in our lives, is an effect which according to conventional scientific wisdom ought not to exist. Now, out of the left field, springs a modern-day philosopher with challenging - and persuasive - ideas about what the effect amounts to and why.' - Nicholas Humphrey

Reviews:

Mind triumphs over matter - Review by Marek Kohn in the Evening Standard (13 January 2003).
Thoughts turn to a drug-free future - Article by Abigail Wild in The Herald (15 January 2003).
The healing power of little white lies - Review by Jerome Burne in the Financial Times (18 January 2003).
Book of the month - Review by Annabelle Mark in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (April 2003).
Anthony Cambell reviews my book on his personal website (2002).

New scientific evidence supports theory:

Since I finished writing the book, new scientific evidence has emerged that supports the theory proposed in chapter three:

More cool links:

Information about 2C-B

This page was last updated: 16 April 2009.